Fat Tony

I never like these types of contracts for older players but I still think Gawn has a lot of good footy left. He doesn't rely on his pace or leap and is a great endurance runner. The fact that he still want to play is a good sign.

Boak and Pendlebury are much better ball users. I hope you are right and he is evergreen like Boak and Pendlebury, but Brad Sewell and Rory Sloane are more likely examples IMO.

Viney is really only able to play as a centre square midfielder and will still be a valuable player as long as he can hold his pace. Hopefully it is 5 years but I doubt it. Boak has lost some pace but he is more damaging on the outside than Viney. (Boak is a much better kick.)

He’s already got one year to go. I’m just saying I would be worried if he got another two. The end could come quickly for Viney.

He played like an A grader on the weekend but any more than one more year would be a mistake.

Is Disco a chance to be nominated for the Rising Star this week? Has he already been nominated this season?

Which result are you pointing to? Brown’s 6 goals or the 87 point loss? There is no chance Jefferson gets promoted on yesterday’s performance. He showed a lack of intensity IMO.

Jefferson still has areas of his game that are poor at VFL level. Tackling, chasing, field kicking and strength are the main areas for improvement. He has to rectify these because offensive ball movement in the AFL is much more structured and he’s not going to be the focal point if he plays for Melbourne. Look how often JVR, Turner, Melksham and Petty block for each other. You almost see none of that in the VFL.

What’s Alistair Lynch doing on Friday night?

Let’s repay them for 2017.

Kynan Brown looks very promising. AMW has some talent but needs to improve his kicking.

All 18 clubs should be chasing Parker. He’s still a star.

Laura Kane is She Who Must Be Obeyed!

My read on this is that Houston is on a relatively low wage contract and Port's demand for two first rounders reflects this. He is clearly a very good player and would add to our side, but we would have to bump his salary and fork out in picks. I think we were probably reluctant to release Petty for a similar reason last season.

I contend that the winning record and actual percentage is a better guide. We recently lost to Port (2nd), GWS (3rd) and Brisbane (5th) by a kick. I think the analysis you are using is misleading. A decent win on the weekend could easily see our percentage be higher than Adelaide, Collingwood, St Kilda and Gold Coast in three days. Would that really change where we sit?

I disagree. Our percentage is 97.9% and our win loss is 10-11 (despite losing all the close ones). We have been about average this year.

I am on record about the Laurie extension and always wince on extensions for fringe players during or before the season. Billings and McAdam were given contracts to get them to join. The McAdam deal was obviously a mistake and Billings has not been a big success. On Viney, I disagree because he can only play one position and he has poor disposal. The end will come quickly for Viney as he loses his pace. As I said, he is my favourite player, but we should ride out the current deal or let him go IMO.

A lot has been made about the decision to let Grundy go and how it was a poor decision for the Demons. I think this is absolute rubbish and it was definitely the correct call for us. Max has an average AFL player rating of 17.71 this season and is the third best player in the AFL. Last year he had a rating of 13.90 and was 36th best. We have freed up $700k in salary cap space. Grundy will only decline from hear on. The two games Max missed this year, we won against Essendon and got smashed against the Dockers. I don't think Grundy would have been the difference that day. While Grundy has had a higher average player rating this season due to playing in the ruck, it is only marginal.

I love Jack Viney and always tell people he is my favourite player. (Kossie is catching up.) But I am not keen for us to extend on his current contract. We need to be a club that maintains flexibility, because we are not really sure if we are still a contender or not.

External reviews are fraught with danger. We particularly don't want an external review at this time given the litigation we are facing. I always said the 2024 was our "Last Chance Saloon" with this premiership tilt and that we needed everything to go right this year. Our performance has been ok in 2024 with not much going right. We are 10-11, with 0-4 in games less than 6 points. (Better to look at the win loss rather than the ladder position.) We were always a low chance to win the flag after our best player was put out for the year. Off the field we have a had a lot of different issues, but they do not seem to be all interconnected. And even if many of them are connected to Oliver, we can't just fix them easily. I am pretty balanced with regards to Goodwin but I think he is a good coach who has developed the right game plan for our list. We are also tied to him for the next three years and it is not a smart decision to sack good coaches given the impact on the soft cap.

Versus Collingwood, Parker had an AFL Player rating of 20.1 (14th in the AFL for the Round) and scored 109 SuperCoach Points (41st in the AFL for the Round). He is still playing very good football. I think Parker and Taylor Walker are the two obvious veterans that would make us better and not cost a lot in terms of salary cap (and no draft capital).

This analysis is fine if you assume that different clubs would take the same players (which they would not). If we had have traded #6 last year for the Eagles first pick in 2024, we would have been the party receiving extra capital.

Usually the best use of draft capital is to recruit out of contract players (generally from interstate clubs). Not only do you minimise your misses, but you can fill gaps on the field. Picking players like Lever and Langdon have been great picks for us. The second best use of draft capital is to trade it for future picks, because the interest rate is very high. We have obviously gone the other way, which has also worked but only because our selections have been so good.

I think Parker is still a very good player. I don’t see downside in recruiting him.

Macrae is on big money until 2027. I would not be a hard no, but any deal would need the Dogs to pay a good whack of his salary.